परेऽधियज्ञे भगवत्यधोक्षजे ।
सर्वात्मभावं विदधन्महीमिमां
तन्निष्ठविप्राभिहितः शशास ह ॥२१॥
evaá¹ sadÄ karma-kalÄpam Ätmanaḥ
pare 'dhiyajñe bhagavaty adhokṣaje
sarvÄtma-bhÄvaá¹ vidadhan mahÄ«m imÄá¹
tan-niá¹£á¹ha-viprÄbhihitaḥ Å›aÅ›Äsa ha
evam - thus (living a devotional life); sadÄ - always; karma-kalÄpam - the prescribed occupational duties as a ká¹£atriya king; Ätmanaḥ - of himself, personally (the head of the state); pare - unto the supreme transcendence; adhiyajñe - unto the supreme proprietor, the supreme enjoyer; bhagavati - unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; adhoká¹£aje - unto He who is beyond material sense perception; sarva-Ätma-bhÄvam - all different varieties of devotional service; vidadhat - executing, offering; mahÄ«m - the planet earth; imÄm - this; tat-niá¹£á¹ha - who are faithful devotees of the Lord; vipra - by such brÄhmaṇas; abhihitaḥ - directed; Å›aÅ›Äsa - ruled; ha - in the past.
In performing his prescribed duties as king, MahÄrÄja AmbarÄ«á¹£a always offered the results of his royal activities to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, who is the enjoyer of everything and is beyond the perception of material senses. He certainly took advice from brÄhmaṇas who were faithful devotees of the Lord, and thus he ruled the planet earth without difficulty.
As stated in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (5.29):
bhoktÄraá¹ yajña-tapasÄá¹
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhá¹›daá¹ sarva-bhÅ«tÄnÄá¹
jñÄtvÄ mÄá¹ Å›Äntim á¹›cchati
People are very much anxious to live in peace and prosperity in this material world, and here in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ the peace formula is given personally by the Supreme Personality of Godhead: everyone should understand that Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the ultimate proprietor of all the planets and is therefore the enjoyer of all activities, political, social, cultural, religious, economic and so on. The Lord has given perfect advice in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ, and AmbarÄ«á¹£a MahÄrÄja, as the ideal executive head, ruled the entire world as a Vaiṣṇava, taking advice from Vaiṣṇava brÄhmaṇas. The Å›Ästras enjoin that even though a brÄhmaṇa may be well versed in the occupational brahminical duties and may be very learned in Vedic knowledge, he cannot give advice as a guru until he is a Vaiṣṇava.
á¹£aá¹-karma-nipuṇo vipro
mantra-tantra-viÅ›Äradaḥ
avaiṣṇavo gurur na syÄd
vaiṣṇavaḥ śva-paco guruḥ
Therefore, as indicated here by the words tan-niá¹£á¹ha-viprÄbhihitaḥ, MahÄrÄja AmbarÄ«á¹£a took advice from brÄhmaṇas who were pure devotees of the Lord, for ordinary brÄhmaṇas who are merely learned scholars or experts in performing ritualistic ceremonies are not competent to give advice.
In modern times, there are legislative assemblies whose members are authorized to make laws for the welfare of the state, but according to this description of the kingdom of MahÄrÄja AmbarÄ«á¹£a, the country or the world should be ruled by a chief executive whose advisors are all devotee brÄhmaṇas. Such advisors or members of the legislative assembly should not be professional politicians, nor should they be selected by the ignorant public. Rather, they should be appointed by the king. When the king, the executive head of the state, is a devotee and he follows the instructions of devotee brÄhmaṇas in ruling the country, everyone will be peaceful and prosperous. When the king and his advisors are perfect devotees, nothing can be wrong in the state. All the citizens should become devotees of the Lord, and then their good character will automatically follow.
yasyÄsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanÄ
sarvair guṇais tatra samÄsate surÄḥ
harÄv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇÄ
manorathenÄsati dhÄvato bahiḥ
“One who has unflinching devotion for the Personality of Godhead has all the good qualities of the demigods. But one who is not a devotee of the Lord has only material qualifications that are of little value. This is because he is hovering on the mental plane and is certain to be attracted by the glaring material energy.†(BhÄg. 5.18.12) Citizens under the guidance of a Kṛṣṇa conscious king will become devotees, and then there will be no need to enact new laws every day to reform the way of life in the state. If the citizens are trained to become devotees, they will automatically become peaceful and honest, and if they are guided by a devoted king advised by devotees, the state will not be in the material world but in the spiritual world. All the states of the world should therefore follow the ideal of the rule or administration of MahÄrÄja AmbarÄ«á¹£a, as described here.
